Building construction



lill! It NM Ilia! May 4, 1937. J. H. MacMlLLAN, JR

BU-ILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 3l, 1954 I I I llllllll llllllllllllLMay 4, 1937. J H MaCMILLAN, JR 2,079,461

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed DBC. 31, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Waffm May 4,1937. J. H. MacMlLLAN, JR 2,079,461

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION A Filed Deo. 31, 1934 :s sheets-sheet 5 InveH/orPatented May 4, 1937 UNITED srnrss PATENT @ENCE 4' BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONJohn H. MacMillan, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn. Application December 31,1934, Serial No. 759,931

6 Claims.

This invention relates to building construction and more particularly toa construction for roofs or walls and roofs capable of use for largespans without requiring arches, framework or other reinforcingstructure.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple and very economicalbuilding construction which is adaptable for roof construction and inmany cases for both roof and wall construction, and wherein the roofand/or walls and roof are supported principally by the continuousmaintenance of an excess of air pressure within the structure over theatmospheric pressure prevailing without. The excess air pressure withinour structure principally responsible for the support of the roof and/orroof and walls needs only to be slightly greater than the atmosphericpressure outside to enable a continuous membrane of sheet metal to besuccessfully utilized for the entire roof and in many instances(depending upon the shape of the building) for the walls and roof.

My structure may be of any convenient shape but those best adapted areshapes which facilitate the maintenance of uniform tension in the wallsand roofs. Such shapes include segments of conic figures of revolutionsuch as segments of cylinders closed at the ends, spheres, hyperboloids,paraboloids, ellipsoids, cones, etc.

It is a further object to provide in building construction of the classdescribed, a continuous membrane of substantially impervious sheetmaterial and apparatus for subjecting the interior of that membrane to asubstantially uniform air pressure in excess of the atmospheric airpressure outside the building and sufcient to principally support theroof and/or the walls and roof, as the case may be, but not of suchamount as to have any injurious or unpleasant eifects upon humans oranimals within the building.

A further object and advantage of my improved construction is theprovision of a structure which is completely moisture-prooi, due to theexcess of air pressure within, which assures an outward flow of airthrough any crevice or leak sufficient to offset any tendency ofmoisture to enter therethrough.

It is another object to provide a novel and simple method forsuccessfully utilizing and supporting a roof and/or walls and roofconstructed of a membrane of sheet material by means of substantiallyconstant air pressure within the structure somewhat greater than theatmospheric pressure outside the building.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morefully set forth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views, and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of my invention wherein theshape of the building is that of a segment of an elongated cylinder withclosed converging ends;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section through one of the walls of thebuilding, showing the means for anchoring the foundation and alsoshowing suitable apparatus for maintaining a substantially predeterminedair pressure within the building; 1

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation taken from the interior of thebuilding;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section illustrating a discharge hopper inand below the floor of the building;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary View, mostly in side elevation with some partsbroken away showing the entrance to the building provided with suitableair locks;

Fig. 8 is a detail horizontal section of a suitable form of steel doorused in the air locks, and

Fig. 9 is a detail horizontal section showing a breather or an expansionsection adjacent to one of the ends of the building construction.

While our structure is adapted for buildings of many various natures,purposes and shapes, the embodiment illustrated in the drawings isparticularly adapted as a storage container for various materials orproducts, such as grain and the like.

As shown, the entire walls and roof are in the form of a continuousmembrane of substantially impervious sheet material, such as sheetmetal, conveniently made up of a multiplicity of sheet metal plates IIwith their adjacent edges fastened together to form air-tight seams bywelding, riveting or any other desired method. The shape shown is ofsemi-cylindrical form with closed and outwardly convergent ends. Thelower edges of the membrane forming the walls and roof are preferablywelded, riveted or otherwise secured and sealed to a narrow reinforcingstrip I2 encircling the entire membrane. The lower edge of reinforcingstrip I2 is embedded preferably in a suitable foundation I3 which, asshown, is constructed of concrete and strip I2 is further secured to thefoundation I 3 by suitable means such as enlarged staples or loops I4embedded in the concrete and passed through suitable apertures formed instrip I2.

Foundation I3 and the building structure superimposed thereon areefficiently anchored by suitable means such as a heavy anchoringfoundation I5 disposed several feet below the ground surface and asshown of continuous construction running parallel and below foundationI3 and to which said foundation I3 is anchored by a multiplicity ofvertical tie-rods IS spaced apart at suitable intervals and preferablyhaving turned upper and lower ends embedded in the foundations I3 and I5respectively. The continuous membrane constituting the walls and roof ofthe building may, if desired, be provided with one or more breather orexpansion sections Il which as shown are in the form of an enlargedbellows fold or outwardly extending bulge of V-shaped cross section asshown` in Figs. ll, 2 and 9.

A suitable floor I8 is provided and is preferably sealed with foundationI3 by means such as a sealing strip IBa, which, as shown, is embedded inboth the floor I8 and foundation I3. The entire building, as far aspossible, including all joints and building ends, is made impervious toair passage.

One or more entrances E and E are designed to facilitate entrance orexit without loss of :any appreciable amount of air from Within thebuilding. An. ordinary revolving door, such as shown at E may beemployed or if desired a short tunnel I9 (see particularly Fig. 7)provided with air locks may be used. Tunnel I9 is built upon a suitableconcrete foundation I9a and communicates as shown with one of the endsof the building. A sheet metal arched roof is superimposed on thefoundation Isa supported on reinforcing arches ISU and having its loweredges embedded and sealed with the top of the foundation. Within tunnelI9 are a pair of spaced air locks or doors A, a suitable structure ofwhich is illustrated in detail in Fig. 8. As shown, each of the doors ishinged to a post 20 and has an out-turned flange about the entireperiphery thereof, which carries a compressible sealing strip 2| forseating against the corners of the jamb and door frame. Additionalsealing strips 22 and 23 may be provided on the door frame for seatingagainst the inner edges of the door proper, and a lock 24 controlled bya crank handle 25 on the outer side of the door, may be utilized toengage the outer face of the door frame producing a camming effect totightly seal the door when the handle is turned in the appropriatedirection. As shown, a pair of doors A are located in tunnel I9, one atthe juncture of the tunnel with the building and the other at the outerend of the tunnel.

In the form of building shown, a suitable discharge hopper 26 is formedin the medial portion of the oor I3, extending some little distancebelow the floor into an enlarged trough 21, which may be constructed ofconcrete. The upper edges of hopper 26 are secured to and sealed with anapertured portion vof the floor and the lower and converging end of thehopper is provided with a horizontally disposed air-tight gate 28 ofsuitable form, which, as shown, is slidable in sealed guides 28a. Theopening and closing of gate 28 is controlled by means such as a pinion29 engaging a rack formed on the bottom of said gate and turned bysuitable means such as a large hand wheel disposed at one side of thehopper. As shown, a short delivery chute y3| is disposed above anendless conveyer 32 which extends longitudinally and upwardly throughthe trough 21 to the outside of the building.

Suitable apparatus is provided for supplying the interior of thebuilding with air taken from the outside, to build up the interior airpressure. As shown, I may employ an airblower B, mounted in a smallhousing 33 at one side of the building and with its intake communicatingwith the air outside the building and with its discharge 34communicating with the interior of the side wall of the building througha suitable aperture with which discharge 34 has a sealed joint. A aptypedoor 35 as shown hinged at its upper edge and urged to closed positionover the air opening may be employed to prevent escape of air throughthe blower when the same is not in operation. Blower B, as shown, isdriven by an electric motor M, also mounted in housing 35, and theoperation of which may be manually controlled but is preferablycontrolled by means of a pressure actuated electric switch S, mounted onthe interior of the building, and subjected to the pressure of the airtherewithin.

A pressure controlled relief valve S6 is shown mounted in the roof of mybuilding structure and adjacent thereto I illustrate an elongated chuteor spout 3l through which material may be put into the building. Aninwardly opening air tight door is provided at the bottom of spout 3land if desired mechanical means for positively opening said door may beutilized. The length of spout 31 is preferably such that the height andweight of the column of granular material contained therein issufficient to overcome the excess air pressure from Within the buildingand to make possible entrance of the granular material withoutsubstantial loss of air from within. If desired an additional door maybe provided at the outer end of the spout which will be closed when thecolumn of material within the spout falls below a predetermined height.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the walls and roofof the building, constituting in the embodiment of thel inventionillustrated the entire shell construction, is substantially imperviousto air and escape of air and reduction of air pressure within theinterior is minimized. The blower B operates or is operated as needed tomaintain a substantially continuous predetermined air pressure withinthe building in excess of the atmospheric air pressure outside of thebuilding. Utilizing a membrane for the roof and/o-r the Walls and roofof the building, such as sheet metal, the excess of the interior airpressure need only be slightly greater than the outside air pressure toadequately support the shell of the building.

In the embodiment illustrated, the operation of blower B is automaticand is controlled by the pressure actuated electrical switch dispo-sedwithin the interior of the building and subjected to the air pressuretherewithin. The excess of air pressure necessary is hardly noticeableand is not injurious or unpleasant to humans or animals inside thebuilding.

If desired, an alternate blower may be provided and connected with thepressure actuated control system in such manner that if for any reasonthe first blower fails to respond to the action of the controls, thealternate air blower is automatically cut in.

With my construction, roofs and/or roofs and walls for large spans maybe successfully constructed from relatively cheap, thin material, suchas sheet metal and may be efciently supported by the excess air pressureWithin, without requiring arches, framework, beams, and

other reinforcing and supporting construction. The economy inconstructing such a building is substantial and is apparent from theforegoing description.

In addition to the provision of a new and improved buildingconstruction, I have provided a simple and efficient method forsupporting the roof and/or roof and walls of a building which includesthe steps of materially restricting escape of air from within thebuilding and continuously maintaining within the building an airpressure in excess of the atmospheric air pressure outside of thebuilding, which air pressure acts as the principal support for the roofand in numerous cases for the walls and roof of the building. It willfurther be seen that my novel methods may in addition include theautomatic control for maintaining a substantially predetermined excesspressure within the building construction.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, proportions and arrangement of the parts Withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention, which, generally stated,consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forthand in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. Building construction having in combination walls and a roof tightlyjoined and constructed of material substantially impervious to thepassage of air, said building including a shell in the form of anunreinforced sheet metal membrane constituting at least a portion of theroof, a blower having its intake outside of said building and connectedto discharge air under pressure within said building and means subjectedto air pressure within said building for controlling the operation cisaid blower to maintain a substantially predetermined air pressurewithin said building and against said shell in excess of the atmosphericair pressure outside of said building and below a pressure suicient torupture said membrane.

2. Building structure comprising an enclosure in the shape of a conicfigure of revolution constituting the walls and roof of a building andmade from a substantially continuous unreinforced sheet metal membraneand means for continuously maintaining upon the inside of said enclosurean excess of air pressure over the atmospheric air pressure outside ofsaid building but below a pressure sufcient to rupture said membrane.

3. Building construction having in combination walls and a roof tightlyjoined and constructed of material substantially impervious to thepassage oi air, said building including a shell in the form of acontinuous unreinforced membrane constituting at least a portion of theroof, said membrane comprising a multiplicity of thin metal sheets theedges of which are secured together, a blower having its intake outsideof said building and connected to discharge air under pressure withinsaid building and means subjected to air pressure within said buildingfor controlling the operation of said blower to maintain a substantiallypredetermined air pressure within said building.

4. The method of constructing and supporting the roof of a buildingwithout the use of structural reinforcing members or encirclingretaining elements which consists in forming a substantiallyair-impervious foundation wall, forming a continuous concavo-convexdiaphragm from a multiplicity of air impervious metal sheets joined andsealed together at their edges, joining the edge of said diaphragm soformed with said foundation wall and thus anchoring said diaphragm andcontinuously maintaining beneath said diaphragm a substantiallypredetermined air pressure in excess of the atmospheric air pressureoutside of said diaphragm and below a pressure sufficient to rupturesaid diaphragm the internal pressure being suiiicient to provide asupporting medium for said diaphragm and at the same time insuiiicientto require superposed reinforced elements on the outside of saiddiaphragm.

5. Building construction having in combination, foundation walls and anarched roof tightly joined with said walls and constructed of materialsubstantially impervious to the passage of air, said roof constructionbeing entirely formed from a multiplicity of thin metal sheets the edgesof which are joined and secured together without the use of reinforcingmembers or encircling retaining means, a blower having its intakeoutside of said building and connected to discharge air under pressurewithin said building and means subjected to air pressure within saidbuilding for controlling the operation of said blower to maintain asubstantially predetermined air pressure within said building, said roofbeing of general segmental cylindrical form and having end portions inthe shape of truncated conical segments, said end portions beingconnected with the body portion of said roof by bellowslike sheet metalconnections to permit limited longitudinal expansion of the roof.

6. Building construction having in combination walls and a roof tightlyjoined and constructed of material substantially impervious to i thepassage of air, said roof being composed of a material which willprovide a semi-rigid and partially self-supporting structure, a blowerhaving its intake outside of said building and connected to dischargeair under pressure within said building, and means subjected to airpres-

